New Jersey Republicans Sue Over New Congressional Map
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last Thursday, Dec. 30, New Jersey Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s new congressional districts. The map was approved on Dec. 22, 2021 after the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission voted on party lines to adopt the map proposed by the Democratic commissioners. Commission Chair and former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John Wallace Jr. cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Democratic map.
The lawsuit, which was filed in the New Jersey Supreme Court on behalf of Republican members of the redistricting commission, focuses solely on Wallace’s role in the redistricting process. Wallace stated that he voted for the Democratic proposal rather than the Republican one because Republicans drew the congressional map in the last round of redistricting. The plaintiffs argue that the commission’s “vote and establishment of Congressional district[s] for the next decade was invalid because it was contingent upon the flawed vote and reasoning by Chair Wallace.” The lawsuit argues that this reasoning by Wallace was “unreasonable” and violates the New Jersey and U.S. Constitutions’ equal protection and due process clauses. The plaintiffs ask the state Supreme Court to vacate the new map and to allow the commission to enact a new map.